Insect traps are well known and many different varieties have been manufactured for many years. Insect traps generally are used for two purposes, to trap and kill large quantities of harmful and/or annoying insects such as mosquitoes, or to trap smaller quantities for entomological surveys to determine the presence, abundance and emergence of many useful or economically important insect species. Samples taken over a particular time period give trained observers an indication of insect populations and rates of growth or decline of such populations. Live samples are also sometimes required for research purposes. Insect traps can be used to control populations by trapping sexually active members of the insect population attracted to the trap by suitable lures or attractants, such as pheromones.
As indicated above there are many styles of insect traps, including those found in Belton's Canadian Patent No. 1.227,929 of Oct. 13, 1987; Brown's Canadian Patent No. 525,188 of May 22, 1956; Boisvert et al's U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,088 of Feb. 26, 1985; Jobin et al's U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,936 of Feb. 17, 1987; and Koike's U.S. Pat. No. 2,095,986 of Oct. 19, 1937. These traps illustrate many different features, including the use of light as an attractant, the use of restricted entrances to the trap, the use of restrictions to prevent escape, the use of protective covers, the use of pheromones as the attractant, the use of toxins to kill trapped insects, and the use of variable luminosity to attract different insects. While each of these traps adequately performs its desired functions it cannot be said that they are readily adaptable to trapping many varieties of insects, that they are readily controllable so that they can be left for long periods of time without attention, or that they are efficient in permitting easy access to the trap while preventing easy egress therefrom when it is desired to keep the trapped insects alive.